Helsinki hosted the first-ever church service in Finland created primarily with the help of artificial intelligence. The ChatGPT-scripted liturgy and prayer took place at St. Paul's Lutheran Church and attracted over 120 attendees, significantly more than usual, according to WomanEL.
Will this become a new trend… Photo: apnews.com
According to The Associated Press, the service was built around the theme of good versus evil. Avatars of the church's pastors, as well as a recreated voice of the former president of Finland, who died in 1986, addressed the congregation, reading passages from the Old Testament.
Artificial intelligence, including OpenAI's ChatGPT, helped write sermons, create songs, music, and visuals. Organizers said they wanted to demonstrate the potential of modern technology in the religious sphere.
The service was attended not only by local residents, but also by guests from other cities and countries. Many noted the unusual format, but overall the visitors liked it.
Prayer according to the ChatGPT script. Photo: apnews.com
Despite the positive response, pastors emphasized that such services cannot yet completely replace traditional, human-led services.
According to Pastor Petya Kopperoinen, who initiated this experiment, artificial intelligence is already changing religious practice.
Usually when people talk about AI, they mean what it will be able to do in the future. But the future is already here, the pastor noted.
This experiment proves that technology can be integrated even into such traditional areas as religion. Whether this will become a new trend or remain an isolated case – time will tell…
Previously, we talked about psychedelics from ChatGPT: has AI learned to influence people through hypnosis?